In many types of fishing there is a need to have a supply of different fish hooks readily available, however, fish hooks by their nature are difficult to handle due to very sharp tip points and barbs that are also sharp resulting in a user easily pricking themselves with these points or barbs when reaching for instance into a small box containing multiple fish hooks. Thus in the prior art it is fundamental to separate the fishhooks in storage so that they can be grabbed one at a time on the end of the fish hook opposite of the tip point and barbs. This usually would result in some sort of clamping mechanism to sandwich the fish hook rod portion in a vise type of arrangement. Of course problematic in a vise type arrangement is that quick and easy removable engagement is difficult of the fish hook to and from the vise, because of the problem, this has resulted in using an elastomeric slit type of arrangement that indeed does facilitate quick and easy engagement/disengagement of the fish hook from the elastomeric slit.
However, problematic in the elastomeric slit is the lack of positive retention of the fish hook in the slit, as the slit in merely a light frictional grip that can deteriorate over time, thus potentially allowing the fish hook to dislodge from the slit which is especially unacceptable due to the inherent risk of the fish hook tip point or barbs being stepped on or inadvertently being brushed against by a hand or finger having a high potential for cuts and the like. Another benefit of the retainer apparatus for fish hooks is to hold the fish hook for tying the fish line to the fish hook end opposite of the point tip for securing a swivel, bubble, weights, and the like, thus with the user being able to desirably avoid holding the sharp tip and barbed fish hook for tying the various fish line knots on the fish hook.
Looking at the prior art in this area in U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,511 to Ashbaugh disclosed is a carrier for fishing lures that includes a cylindrical tube having a plurality of holes along the side wall for the length of the tube. In Ashbaugh the hook of the fishing lure may be inserted into any of the holes and positively retained when the carrier is in its normal substantially vertical position due to gravity. The shank of the lure hook in Ashbaugh will likewise depend downward to lie substantially parallel to the major axis of the cylindrical tube, and cannot easily discharge from the tube from the hole due to the abutting of the hook shank against the side of the tube, see in particular FIG. 2.
However, in Ashbaugh when the tube is swung to a horizontal position and twisted so the lure hook retaining holes face vertically upward, the hook shank will fall to a vertical position due to gravity to be perpendicular to the major axis of the tube and due to the relatively small diameter of the tube, the hook may then be lifted from the retaining hole in the tube for use, or a lure may be installed for storage in the tube. The tube in Ashbaugh is suspended from a belt attachment loop, which loop is easily removable and installable on a belt, see FIG. 1. One problem with the Ashbaugh carrier is that the hook retention relies solely on gravity to keep the hook trapped within the hole, wherein if the carrier should be bounced around creating momentary periods of no gravity, the hooks could bounce out of the holes.
Moving onward in the fish hook holder arts in U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,707 to Lewis disclosed is a fly fishing leader carrier is designed to retrievably store a plurality of fishing leaders on the back of a fisherman. The fishing leader carrier in Lewis includes an elongated rectangular fishing leader holder which has a number of stretchable elastic loops and an equal number of parallel slots designed to hold under tension an equal number of fishing leaders with the hooks disposed therethrough the elastic loops and the opposing leader lines wedged in a slot. In Lewis the fishing leader carrier also includes an elongated strap whose opposite ends are attached to the opposite ends of the elongated fishing leader holder plus the strap also includes a separable two-part buckle which enables the strap to be readily separated into two parts and then joined together. A drawback of Lewis is the size of the assembly and strapping it to the individuals back makes quick easy access to the hooks difficult.
Next in the prior art in the hook and line retention arts in United States Patent Application Number 2012/0055962 to Lee, et al. disclosed is a fishing line holder that can be either removably or permanently attached to a piece of clothing, such as a shirt is described. In one preferred use in Lee, the holder, which includes an elastomeric slit, permits a fisherman wearing a piece of clothing having the holder attached thereto to temporarily store a monofilament fishing line in the slit while he/she is making changes to his/her fishing rig. However, in Lee, there is no form of positive retention of the line other than compressive force on the line from the elastomeric slit.
Further in the hook and line retention arts in U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,190 to Looney, et al. disclosed is a fly harnessing and storage device, including a main body casing with an inner storage surface, are for attaching a plurality of fly hooks thereon via the use of foam rubber. The casing in Looney also has an aperture therethrough in which a flexible tubular member passes wherein the tubular member harnesses tippets which extend from the fly hooks, into the casing aperture connected end of the tubular member and extending beyond the opposite end of the tubular member. The tubular member in Looney also holds a loop feeder which permits a user to eye the loop with a tippet and pull the feeder to secure the tippet through the tubular member. In Looney, the hook insert into a foam linear protrusion 7, 9, and 11, again as in Ashbaugh and Lee there is no positive retention of the hooks, only an elastomeric frictional compression, meaning that the hooks could dislodge from the protrusion if moved suddenly.
Yet further in the hook and line retention arts in U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,834 to Spencer disclosed a fishing fly box includes a cylindrical housing in which a spool is located, the spool being mounted to rotate on hollow spindles that project inwardly from the end walls of the housing. The housing in Spencer has an opening which is normally closed by a cover, but when the cover is open, flanges at the end of the spool are exposed where they may be easily manipulated to turn the spool. In Spencer, strips 48 of soft retaining material extend axially along the spool to retain the flies, for the hooks of the flies are easily embedded in these strips. The fly box in Spencer is suspended from a lanyard, and to retrieve a fishing fly, the fisherman merely inserts a finger of his left hand into the spindle of the left end wall, and with the thumb of that hand moves the cover to its open position. Again in Spencer using the thumb the user turns the flange of the spool until the desired fly is at the opening, whereupon the fly is withdrawn, also the fly box has an end cap, which is easily detached from the right end wall, and it encloses an annular cavity for storing leaders. Further in Spencer, again as in Looney, Ashbaugh, and Lee there is no positive retention of the hooks, only an elastomeric frictional compression, meaning that the hooks could dislodge from the protrusion if moved suddenly.
Continuing in the hook and line retention arts in U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,148 to Yonenoi disclosed in an elastic fly holding mat, that like Lee only uses elastomeric slit compression to retain the hook, see FIGS. 2 and 3, not having a positive hook retention, but merely compressive frictional retention of the hook.
Moving onward in the hook and line retention arts in U.S. Pat. No. 3,101,964 to Reaser disclosed is a fish hook holder that uses an axially spring loaded reciprocating hook 34 to loop around the fish hook and thus urge the fish hook as against nozzle 19 to positively retain the fish hook, see FIGS. 3 and 4, however, with the arrangement Reaser can only retain a single fish hook at one time.
Again moving onward in the hook and line retention arts in U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,013 to Terry discloses a clam shell arrangement that sandwiches a fish hook wherein the clam shell half surfaces have cavities that substantially match that of the fish hook contour, wherein the clam shell halves encase the fish hook, see FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. Terry can only hold a single fish hook at a time and is limited to the pre-carved cavities conforming to the particular fish hook contour shape, and Terry only somewhat positively retains the fish hook in a loose manner as the cavities are loose fitting around the fish hook.
Continuing, in the hook and line retention arts in U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,923 to Pruncutz disclosed is a fish hook holder having a rigid bifurcated body with a hollow internal chamber with a plurality of hook engaging pins within the hollow body space, wherein a single end pinches the shaft end of the hook only allowing for a single hook to be retained at a time.
What is needed is a retaining apparatus for fish hooks that gives fisherman a safe and convenient way of holding fish hooks that are in close proximity to the fisherman, wherein the fish hooks are easily and quickly removably engagable from the retainer apparatus, however, with the fish hook being positively retained in the apparatus-having the advantages of a vise combined with the quick and easy removable engagement of an elastomeric slit. Additional desirable features of the retaining apparatus would include the ability to float in water-as there is a high likelihood of the retainer apparatus falling into the water, to protect the fisherman's fingers from direct exposure to the hook tip and barbs, and easy to secure and remove hooks from the retainer apparatus for users with large fingers, poor dexterity, and poor eyesight.